


Death and The Fighter

by BloodEmCee



Category: Bleach
Genre: F/F, MC Switch, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-20
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-08-04 15:50:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16349615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BloodEmCee/pseuds/BloodEmCee
Summary: It's here, in Karakura. Rukia feels power surge against her skin. For a moment, she can see her: strong-shouldered, spike-haired, aggressive. Then she's gone, and Rukia moves, intent on finding the one who can help her, help all of them.(Bleach, but Tatsuki is the MC. Pairings will be added to the list as they happen, as will characters beyond what I have already listed.)





	1. Rukia ( I )

**Author's Note:**

> Much like the title suggests, this is an attempt at Bleach where Tatsuki is the main character. 
> 
> Character roles will be changing throughout this story. Ichigo is no longer the lead, and I'm going to be giving some of the female characters more prominence, etc. There are primarily going to be f/f pairings in this, due to my own personal preferences, so if that bothers you, then it's best to move on. 
> 
> My writing style can be a bit weird, so please bear with me. 
> 
> I'll be trying to update this once a week. We'll see how that goes.

Friday’s a quiet night in Karakura for the most part. Rukia’s come to appreciate this quietness; it carries a sense of peace that’s hard to find these days. She doesn’t know what it is, but back home, there’s a pressure that she cannot shake. None of them can shake it. She sees it in the tension of Byakuya’s shoulders. The regularly-snappy captains are even worse these days: Soi Fon and Hitsugaya bristle, jumping at any detail out of order, out of place.

Rukia pities Omaeda, sometimes. Rangiku, less so. She’s tougher than she looks. Rukia appreciates it.

Still, it is their duty, and they should not let the tension get to them so much. 

She closes her eyes. Rukia focuses down, through her feet, feeling through her soul. This comes naturally to her. Rukia reaches through the streets until she feels a surge of power writhe up through the soles of her feet. For a moment, Rukia can see her: she's strong, with squared shoulders. Her hair's spiky and short. She walks like she's itching for a fight. 

_Perfect,_ Rukia thinks.

Her eyes snap open and she vanishes in a moment, blinking away from the light pole. 

Got to find her _soon._


	2. Tatsuki ( I )

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I haven't written this much in a while, so it's going to be rusty for a bit. Please bear with me.

“Hey!” 

Tatsuki’s shout makes the oldest of the girls jump. Tatsuki rolls up her uniform sleeves and squares up, flexing one fist and then the other. Her display is menacing. Such a thing is not unheard of from her. Tatsuki’s lived her life this way, putting on a front that cannot be pierced by anything beyond what she has softened for--but she is no blushing schoolgirl, and softening does not come easy. 

“What?!” The leader of the delinquent group shifts to one foot and turns, spinning to face Tatsuki while she cocks up her head and curls up her lip. 

“What’ve you got to say, huh?” This punk’s challenge cannot be mistaken. Tatsuki snags at the front of her shirt so hard that knuckles turn white. 

“You’re the one out vandalizing a memorial, jackass! What’ve _you_ got to say?” Tatsuki flicks her eyes over the girl’s shoulder. Behind the delinquent gang, there’s a man with long hair and distant eyes. 

Only Tatsuki can see him. 

“A memorial-”

“Yeah! A memorial!” 

The girl writhes when Tatsuki gives her shirt a shake. Something cold runs up the leader’s spine and she sees a head looming down over the front of her vision. Blank eyes widen. He’s a man, but he’s so _cold_. 

“You ever think about that?! This guy’s dead and you’re--what the fuck, spraypainting?!” 

“I didn’t-”

“Bullshit!” Tatsuki barks. “You knew!”

“I swear-!” 

Tatsuki releases her grasp, drops the leader, just in time to grab one of the other delinquents as she tries to circle in and take a swing. The fight is quick, at least, which is merciful for the girls as Tatsuki thrashes them rather soundly. There’s the crunch of her knuckles against a ribcage, the hissing grunt as someone’s slammed into the ground, the faint bloodspatter beneath all of them. 

She’s only sweating a little when it ends. Two of the delinquent girls are holding bloody, broken noses. One of them is doubled over, trying to gain her breath. The leader whines about her fingers being broken until Tatsuki points to the cold man and hisses- 

“Apologize.”

To her credit, the leader _does_ apologize. She doesn’t mean it, but there’s nothing Tatsuki can do about that.   
Tatsuki bends, grabs her grocery bag off the ground. 

“...idiots,” she huffs, running fingers through her hair. 

As long as she can remember, she’s been able to see the dead. It’s made certain situations pretty awkward (Tatsuki knows Chizuru’s never told anyone about the dead sister), but she tries to deal with it and her temper all at once. Typically it goes rather well, but days like today catch her in the strange shift of balance, sweep her over, and make her lose herself in what must be done. 

Tatsuki thinks on it while she walks. She can’t shake the feeling of foreboding that clings to her. Something’s off. Tatsuki doesn’t know what, so she tries not to think about it. That’d be best. 

“Hey!” Tatsuki calls when she opens her door--Mom’s probably out somewhere, but Tatsuki calls out anyways, just in case.

“I got groceries! Not a lot, you know, but some.” 

Nothing. 

“Alright, that’s fine. That’s fine…” 

Groceries go on the counter. Cold things go away. Everything else can stay out for now. 

It’s only when Tatsuki turns that she notices the young woman standing against the wall, and- 

“What the fuck-!”


	3. In The Mists

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait! I've got three research papers i'm working on for school, so updates are going to be slow already, and I don't like it. But I'll keep on trucking. Thanks to the people who've already left comments and kudos. :) I haven't written like this in years.

Hunger-pains have never felt good. 

It stretches in the darkness, trying to breathe with lungs that do not function. Vision flickers here and there and it tries to slink forward, driven by two sensations pounding within its chest. Hunger. Hatred. 

All-consuming, either way.

A shiver down its spine.

Thick ropes run from between teeth strong enough to rend through metal. When it moves, its false skin ripples and lurches. It's been on the trail of something strong for days: an awakening thing there in the thick deathshroud. Something that is weak. Newborn. Unaware of what it could be. 

What it is.

Except _this_ knows what it is. It drags cuts through concrete. 

The spirit that crosses its path is not the prey that it came for from the start, but this spirit is good enough. The man goes down easily, devoured in snaps of beartrap jaws, nothing left but a faint wisping between false exhales. The thing feels its body shake. It has not felt this excited about a kill for quite some time. The power it can smell, it can taste, it can want, it can feel-

Nostrils flare. It pantomimes breath. 

_Somewhere._ That is the primal thrum in its chest. _Somewhere._ Each would-be heartbeat. It continues along its way, jaws hanging loose, tongue curling over its chin.


	4. Tatsuki ( II )

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heads up! I have two research papers I'm working on. Things may get REAL slow, but hopefully not. There's also some gore in this chapter, but it's not too intense.

"It's coming," is all this strange woman says. Tatsuki draws herself up, squares her shoulders, hisses between her teeth. She's had quite enough bullshit. This is too much. Far too much. 

"Listen, I don't give a fu-"

"You need to listen to me," she says, and brushes hair out of her eyes. Tatsuki jumps for her, even as the strange young woman seems to register that Tatsuki's responded to her, answered her, and now jumped upon her. Tatsuki can't take risks. She doesn't pay the stranger much mind and tries to get her in a hold quickly.

She would have, if fingers hadn't flicked--there's a word in the air. 

"AH!" Tatsuki shouts. Her arms twitch up behind her. Muscles tense. To Tatsuki, it is the worst cramp she's felt in her life. All her muscles lock. Her shoulders tremble, but she cannot move, cannot resist the strange force locking her in place. Something inside of her surges, twists. There's a momentary resistance. The blue-eyed woman stares at her. The stranger's eyes are cold, but shocked. The stranger regains her stoic stance. Tatsuki's full of red, though. All she can focus on is this person she doesn't know, coming up in her house, intruding on the space she shares with her mother. 

"I understand that you're confused and afraid, but you must settle down." The stranger's voice does not fluctuate. Tatsuki merely flexes and strains. In response, the force buckles her down to her knees. 

"There are things at work beyond your understanding." 

"Fuck off-!" 

" _Listen!_ " Her voice is, at least, impressive. Tatsuki shows her teeth anyways. "You can see souls. I know this. I've followed your trail here. There are other things, Hollows, which are greater than any soul. It is my job to kill Hollows. There is one on its way here; I hadn't intended on seeing you here-"

"Then I guess you can't see too well!" Tatsuki cannot hold her tongue. When the stranger's nostrils flare, there's satisfaction in Tatsuki's chest, low and burning. 

"Hollows eat souls. They eat those with great power, as well. The Hollow is here for you, girl. Do you understand, now? My name is Kuchiki Rukia, and I am here to protect you."

Tatsuki can hear the irritation in that smooth voice. Small barbs catching on silk. 

"I'm sure you are-"

A scream.

They both pause. Tatsuki's never heard anything like that before. That scream is beyond anything humans could make, she knows immediately. This should scare her, and on some low level it does, but Tatsuki has made a life out of being incorrigible and strong. She's the rock that Orihime clings to, the steady earth that keeps Chizuru from plummeting into some dark chasm. Therefore, she knows how to hold her gaze steady even when something is threatening, when it is _too much._ So does the stranger. Tatsuki appreciates that, in the shutterclick seconds before her front door wrenches open and her own mother staggers in, her forehead gashed, a wound in her head, blood in her eyes. 

Tatsuki cannot feel anything but the hot burning in her chest as soon as she sees the redness running over her mother's face. Arisawa Misao is a strong woman who has raised a child alone. She's the reason Tatsuki never had to feel pressure to be overly feminine. She is--

\--important. Tatsuki's rage snaps, cracks itself into a coil, pushes outward. She doesn't recognize her own movement until Misao is set down carefully and the stranger is shouting "Impossible!" behind her (but the shout, Tatsuki will realize later, is not entirely displeased). 

The thing she sees is hunched over, great and horrible and beyond what she's seen before. Tatsuki does not think about her mortality as she balls her hands into fists and reaches, grabbing a brick off the sidewalk and flinging it at the creature. She roars, cords standing out on her neck, saliva flying between her teeth; feet kick off and she charges, before her brain can catch up with her.


End file.
